The Underground River — Jeanne Williams

Jeanne Williams is a master of the historical novel and nowhere more so than in this epic story of the Kansas Territory in the late 1850s. Jonathan and Ellen Ware have immigrated to the area from their farm in Illinois with thirteen-year-old Christy Ware and her two older brothers. The Wares are only one of the families that will soon be caught up in the burning issue of slavery with raids from the Border Ruffians out of Missouri and John Brown's small army devoted to ending slavery and helping runaways to escape to the north. To aid and abet a runaway slave is a crime that carries a dear price. There are those who believe the only answer to the crisis is violence, and those who just want to protect their land and homes from war-like marauders. This is an incredible, memorable, and powerful story with characters that come vividly to life in the midst of turbulent times.

Jeanne Williams, born in Elkhart, Kansas, published more than seventy Western, fantasy, and women's stories. She won a Spur Award for The Valiant Women (1980) and for Home Mountain (1990).